Brutality Alleged After Man Dies In Custody

April 27, 1991|By Linnet Myers.

A Friday autopsy hadn`t yet determined the cause of death for a man who died in police custody after he was allegedly running wildly on West Marquette Road, exhibiting what police called ``erratic behavior.``

The family of the dead man, Fred Killingsworth, are charging that police caused his death, a charge Police Supt. LeRoy Martin strongly denied.

Several witnesses said they saw police beat Killingsworth in the 1200 block of West Marquette on Thursday night. The medical examiner`s office said some injuries were found on his body but weren`t serious enough to have killed him.

A resident called police at 8:20 p.m. Thursday, saying a man was

``running in traffic and jumping on the hoods of vehicles,`` according to a statement issued by Martin.

``He was talking to himself and running in circles`` when officers arrived, Martin said, indicating that he may have taken drugs. Martin said police handcuffed him, but he ``kept kicking the officers, and his legs had to be restrained with a plastic tie.``

Police called an ambulance when he stopped breathing. Killingsworth, 45, of the 6400 block of South May Street, had no vital signs when he arrived at the University of Chicago Hospitals and was pronounced dead at 9:47 p.m., said hospital spokesman John Easton.

Killingsworth`s brother, Arthur, said he drove to the scene after a friend`s son ran to tell him what was happening. He said his brother was handcuffed and on the ground when he got there.

His friend`s son, 12-year-old Dontess Jordan, said he ran to Killingswoth`s home because ``they was beating Fred, hitting him with steel police flashlights.``

Two neighborhood teenagers, who don`t know the Killingsworths, said they were in a crowd of people who watched the incident. James Blackman, 17, said he saw a man ``walking and talking to himself`` and then run into the street. ``About three police cars came-they just got to beating him,`` he said.

The autopsy found superficial abrasions on Killingsworth`s lips, legs and arms, said Dr. Yuksel Konakci. ``We also found two hemorrhages-areas of bleeding under the skin.``

The injuries were caused by ``blunt trauma,`` but he couldn`t tell if the trauma came from a beating or from something else. The injuries alone couldn`t have caused death, he said, and toxicology tests are being done.